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JT3 gets himself a well-deserved raise (reportedly doubling his salary to $900k) and extension through 2013 at Georgetown, although he’s still grossly underpaid. He’ll have to start the 2007-08 season without backup PG Chris Wright, however, due to a broken foot. Wright is expected back later this season.

Considerable speculation over Duke Crews’ suspension ended when the Tennesseean reported that a bag of maryjane was found in his dorm room.

According to Six Pack Sports Report, Jim Calhoun hates kids with cancer b/c he won’t play Holy Cross. Speaking of which, the Coaches v. Cancer 2007 regional schedules are out – the ripest upset possibility now that HC isn’t allowed in? Oklahoma.

Staying in the Big East, we talked about Melo’s $3M gift the other day, but Storming the Floor reports that his charitable contributions for the year 2006 ranks #8 NATIONALLY among celebrities. Go, Melo.

STF also gets their preseason primer started with the eight must-watch nonconference games this year. Marco, no UNC-UK (Dec. 1) or Pitt-Duke (Dec. 20) for a crisp ten?

What’s left unsaid in Demarcus Nelson being named captain at Duke? How about Greg Paulus’ demotion – he was a tri-captain along with Nelson and McBob last year.

Making the Dance takes a look at the last 25 and 10 years worth of NCAA F4 appearances by conference. Solid first post, if we’re interpreting that correctly.

NCAA Hoops Today evaluates the Nike Hoop Summit to prep us on the freshmen to watch this season.

Mike DeCourcey asks ten questions that we should know the answers to this season.

In MSM-world, Hoops Weiss informs us that John Beilein has a tough road ahead at Michigan; Jeff Goodman at foxsports.com lets us know that Gonzaga isn’t going anywhere anytime soon; Seth Davis portrays Coach K as the energizer bunny that could; and Gary Parrish contends that the one-and-done “argument” has been settled for good. Oh, and Andy Katz tries to explain why NYC-area schools suck so badly.

“Hoops” Weiss reports that 2007 A10 rookie of the year Robert Mitchell (16ppg; 5rpg) from Duquesne is transferring to Seton Hall.

More injuries – Louisville’s Edgar Sosa is out four weeks with a sprained ankle, and Arkansas’ Sonny Weems is out the same amount of time with a broken hand (Weems has to miss the Hawgs’ trip to Cancun – rotten timing for him).

The Wooden Classic matchups are set, with San Diego St. taking on St. Mary’s in the undercard and Davidson vs. UCLA in the headliner game on Dec. 8. We can’t wait to see Stephen Curry match up against Darren Collison.

NC State’s Gavin Grant has high expectations for his squad this season (memo to GG: you’ll have four losses by Jan. 12). Find all 12 ACC teams’ scheduling highlights here.

Ever the shameless promoter, OJ Mayo is floating the idea of sticking around USC for two seasons.

OJ’s former HS buddy Bill Walker is ready for his first full season in Manhattan (Kansas).

Speaking of USC, we always wondered how that big lead against UNC evaporated so quickly in last year’s sweet 16. Oh, right, Tim Floyd.

Sticking with the SoCal theme, here’s the next wannabe crossover conglomerate that Floyd can “recruit” to USC – 2009 #1 player Renardo Sidney (and his pops).

Large things are expected in HoosierLand for Eric Gordon (best since Isiah?? Wow!). Kelvin Sampson gives an interview on his team’s prospects prior to IU’s trip to the Bahamas here.

Finally, the Big 10 Network is set to come on the air tonight at 8pm. According to Mike DeCourcey, “among the intriguing games that will show up on the BTN will be Indiana at Iowa (January 2), Purdue at Michigan State (January 8), Wisconsin at Illinois (February 20) and three conference tournament games.”

In the spirit of the new school year and the imminent college football season…

First we offer the top 10 party schools in America. Looking at the top 5, might there be a link between hedonism, the South and football?

Speaking of the dirty South, this future Clemson grad wants us to know that she has “the Iraq’s” education on her mind, er, something like that…

Moving back to our bread & butter, in a tragedy of Odin-esque proportions, Oregon plans to take Phil Knight’s $100M largesse and use it to build a new on-campus arena. Sadly, McArthur Court will be tossed into the dustbin of great historical arenas. Why doesn’t UO end the charade and just call themselves the Oregon Nikes from now on?

Richard Jefferson donated $3.5M to his alma mater Arizona for their new practice facility. But he’s still only the third best UA alum in the NBA, according to fellow Cat Agent Zero.

Mike DeCourcey at TSN picks five teams from which he believes a 2008 champion will emerge – Georgetown, UNC, Kansas, UCLA and Memphis.

All kinds of knee problems – Syracuse guard Andy Rautins blew out his left knee during the Tournament of the Americas while playing for Team Canada – the Cuse’s leading returning three-point shooter will miss the entire 2007-08 season. Duke’s David McClure (6-8 weeks) and Bama’s Ronald Steele (ditto) also had less serious knee surgeries last week – both are expected to be 100% by the season.

Illinois guard Jamar Smith will miss the season due to his DUI arrest in February. He will be eligible to return to the team in the 2008-09 season. Oh, and Jeff Goodman reminds us that Bruce Weber still can’t recruit.

From the rumor mill –

Word is pickup basketball at UCLA got heated Monday when Golden State star point guard Baron Davis engaged in some trash-talking with heralded Southern Cal freshman point guard O.J. Mayo. Davis got upset with Mayo after he didn’t respect one of Davis’ calls. Word is Davis, a native of Los Angeles, told Mayo that he doesn’t know who he is other than the fact that he wasn’t from Los Angeles and he also needed to respect a veteran’s call. Word is Mayo more than held his own in the games. (h/t to Bruin Report Online)

Former ECU head coach Ricky Stokes has been paid $250,000 to not take the administrative job originally offered him after his demotion.

In a sad and bizarre end to what was probably a tortured life, former one-and-done Seton Hall star Eddie Griffin died of an apparent suicide last week when he drove his car into a moving train. RIP Eddie.

Finally, from the opposite end of the spectrum, Butch van Breda Kolff, former Princeton coach and hoops purist, died at 84 last week. As head coach, he led Bill Bradley’s Princeton Tigers to the 1965 Final Four, its only appearance. RIP Butch.